Hydraulic elevator plants



(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet l. R. C. SMITH. OPERATING HYDRAULIC ELEVATORPLANTS. NO. 581,668.

Patented Apr. 27, 1897.

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(No'ModeL) R; 0. SMITH. OPERATING HYDRAULIC ELEVATOR PLANTS.

2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

Patented Apr. 27, 1897.

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RUDOLPH O. SMITH, OF YONKERS, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR TO THE OTIS BROTHERS &COMPANY, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

OPERATlNG HYDRAULlC ELEVATOR PLANTS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 581,668, dated April27, 1897. Application filed M y 29,1894. Serial No. 512,926. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, RUDOLPH (1. SMITH, a citizen of the United States ofAmerica, and a resident of Yonkers, Vestchester county, New York, haveinvented a new and useful Improvement in Operating lIydraulic-ElevatorPlants, of which the following is a specilication.

My inven tion relates to an improved method of operating hydraulicelevators.

The object of my invention is to obtain in the operation of hydraulicelevators the highest economyin the consumption of fuel without addinggreatlyto the first cost of installation and with the use of as ordinaryan apparatus as is now used for this purpose. T attain this result, Icombine three instrumentalit-ies for this purpose-first, amultiplepressure system by means of several reservoirs; second, animproved n1ultiple-pumping apparatus withimproved connections andautomatic starting gear; third, automatic valve devices to combine thevarious powers by means of these instrumentalities, according to therequirements of certain predetermined loads.

The invention is illustrated in the diagram shown in Figure l of thedrawings, and, further, in the enlarged detail shown in Fig.

The lift-engine may be of any suitable construction and either-single ormultiple. As shown, it is multiple, with three cylinders 1, 2, and 3,the central cylinder being largestin diameter, and the piston-rods ofthe pistons 4: of all the cylinders being connected to one cross-head 5,the operation of which will serve to lift the cage 36 by the descent ofthe pistons and to lower the cage by the ascent of the pistons. To liftthe cage, water is introduced from an inlet-pipe 6 to the side cylindersand from an inlet-pipe 50 to the central cylinder, and to lower the cagethe water is circulated from the cylinders through the pipes 6 50 andthrough pipes 43 44: through a valve apparatus E, with which the pipes 6O communicate, and through a valve apparatus D, through which the pipes43 44c communicate. The valve apparatus D is the main valve of theengine, and while it may be operated directly it is shown as beingoperated by means of a pilot-valve appliance l3.

\Vater at diiiferent pressures is admitted to the main cylinder or toboth the main and the subordinate cylinders from two pipes 19 20, and iscontrolled in its flow by the said valve apparatus. The pipe 19 issupplied with water at high pressuresay one hundred and sixty poundsandthe pipe 20 from water at a lower pressuresay one hundred poundsandahollow tubular valve 22 is secured to a stem 32, which carries apiston-valve 23 and a larger piston 24, fitting the larger area of. thecasing, so as to act as the piston of a motor that operates the mainvalve and constitutes a part of the main-valve device. The main valve 22is so constructed that when it descends below the pipe 19 water from thelatter can flow to the pipe 50, and when it ascends above the pipe 20water from the latter can flow to the pipe 50, flow from both pipesbeing cut olf when the valve is in the midposition, covering the portshown in dotted lines, Fig. 2.

lVhen the lower valve is below the ports of the pipes 43 44, the latterare in communication, and when the valve 23 is above the ports of thepipes 43 44 the water will flow therefrom to the port I) and thencethrough the discharge-pipe 21 to a discharge or suction tank 23*.

The casing of the pilot-valve device B communicates through a port 0 andpipe with the top of the casing a, above the piston 24. Two ports 27 29are connected by a circulating-pipe 33, and below the port 27 is a port29, and below the latter is a port communicating with a discharge-pipes, leading to the discharge-pipe 21. A port 58 above the port 27communicates, through a pipe 41, with the high-pressure pipe 10, and inthe casing of the device B is a valve 20 and a counter-balancing piston25, both upon a stem 35, connected to one end of a lever 60, to theopposite end of which the stem 32 is pivoted. At a point to one side ofthe center of lever 60 is pivoted a link 61, extending to a crank 62upon the shaft of a wheel 63, to which movement is imparted from thecage of the elevator through the medium of any suitable operatingappliances. In combination with these parts I make use of an automaticregulator F, consisting of a casin f and containing a port 64, closed bya valve upon a stem carrying a piston 55. top of the easingf to the pipe50, and a pipe 67 leads from the bottom of the casing to the port 29 ofthe pilot-valve device.

The valve device E, which is an automatic regulator, consists of acasing containing a hollow tubular or sleeved valve 51 upon a stem 68,which carries two pistons 09 and a piston-valve 71, and which iscounterbalanced by a counterbalance-lever 72. From the top of the casingg extends a pipe 70, which communicates with the pipe 50.

With all of the above-described parts arranged substantially as shownand specified, when the valve 22, which, as shown, has no paekin g, isin a central position there can be a slight leakage of water from thepipe 19 to the space below the piston 24, and assuming that the cage hasbut a light load, sufficient to be lifted by on e hundred poundspressure in the engine, the operation will be as follows: The operatorby moving the hand device in the cage can so turn the wheel 63 that thepilot-valve is thrown down to open the port 0 of the pipe 40, when thepressure below the piston 24 will lift the latter, raise the valve 22,and permit water at one hundred pounds pressure to pass to the centralcylinder 2 to depress the piston therein and raise the cage. As thepiston 24 of the valve device D rises above its mid-position the piston26 of the control-valve begins to descend and, after a movementdepending on the height to which the piston 26 has been raised, closesthe port 27 as the piston 24 and valve 22 reach their desired position.If it is then desired to descend, the operator still further throws downthe pilot-valve 26 until the port 58 is uncovered,when water at highpressure will pass through the pipe 41 and port 58 into the pipe 40 andequalize the pressure on both sides of the piston 24, when the pressureon the piston 23 will cause the latter to descend below the ports of thepipes 43 44 to the desired extent, when the port of the pilot-valve willbe closed by the action of the piston 24. The water will now circulateunder pressure from above the piston of the cylinder 2, and also fromabove the pistons of the other cylinders through the pipes G, 50, 43,and 44, and the cage will descend downward through the hollow valve 22and to the pipes. The casing a is of sufficient length that the valve 22can ascend to such an extent as to open the port of the pipe 19. A veryslight opening is sufficient to allow the increased pressure to enterthe pipe 50. Of course the diameter of the valve-casing is variedaccording to the character of the work to be done. During theseoperations with a light load the pressure in the pipe 50, in consequenceof the movement A branch pipe 66 leads from the of the piston of theengine, will be less than one hundred pounds. If, however, the load inthe cage should be so great that one hundred pounds pressure will notlift the same, there will be an increase of pressure in the pipe 50,which, acting upon the piston 28 of the regulator F, will cause the saidpiston to descend and carry down the secondary valve 65 and open theport 64, when the space above the piston 24 of the valve device Dwill-be put in connection through the pipes 40 "a, port 64, pipe 67, andport 29 with the discharge-pipe s. The operator having in the firstinstance moved the control-valve so as to raise the valve 22, thepressure resulting from opening the port 64 will cause the piston 24 tobe further elevated until the port 29 is closed, when the lower edge ofthe valve 22 will have uncovered the port between the pipe 5 and thepipe 19, and water at one hundred and sixty pounds pressure will pass tothe cylinder 2, a stopvalve 31 preventing the water from being forcedback through the pipe 20. The power is thus automatically increasedwithout any direct act of the operator, who simply opens the controlvalve in the first instance, and the pressure then adjusts itself to theload. If the load is still too great to be lifted by the increasedpressure acting on the piston 4, the pressure in the pipe 50 willfurther so increase as to act upon the piston 69 of the valve device Eand force the latter down until the hollow valve 51 is below the pipe 50and the valve 71 below the pipe 6, when water at one hundred and sixtypounds pressure will pass through the valve 51 from the pipe 50 to thepipe 6 and to the auxiliary cylinders, and will act upon the pistonsthereof, the increased piston area thus afforded serving to secure theraising of the increased load, and this additional power being securedautomatically and in proportion to the increase of the load without anyact on the part of the operator in the cage.

Under any of the circumstances, whatever may be the pressure when thecage is to descend, the operator simply restores the control-valve 26 toits reversed position, when the valve 2 will be brought to its lowestposition and the valve 23 opens the pipe 43 and water will circulatefrom end to end of the cylinder, as above described. hen the valve 22 isabove the pipe 20, of course the pressure is operating at one hundredpounds. Then the valve 22 is below the pipe 10, the water is supposed tobe admitted at one hundred and sixty (100) pounds for circulation, butat the same time that the valve goes below the pipe 10 the lower valve23 goes below the pipes 43 and 44 to allow the water to circulate andthe cage to descend.

\Vhile I have referred to a multiple engine, it will be evident that thedevice above described (exeept the regulator E) maybe used in connectionwith a single engine and with two pressures, and it will also be evidentthat where additional pressure is required it may be obtained by usingadditional pipes and control devices communicating with a source ofgreater power. It will be seen also that the various valve devices maybe constructed in any of the usual ways, so as to open the ports asrequired, and also that when it is not desired to make use of a motorfor operating the valve 22 the latter may be operated directly from thecontrol device of the elevator without the use of an engine, and in suchcase the pilot-valve will be dispensed with. In connection with saidappliances I make use of means whereby to maintain constantly therequisite pressure in the high and low pressure pipes, and to this end Iuse high and low pressure reservoirs or tanks, two, 81 82, beingemployed when there are two different pressures desired,the normalpressure in tank 81 being, say, one hundred and sixty pounds and that intank 82 one hundred pounds. It will of course be understood that insteadof pressure-tanks gravity-tanks placed at different heights may beemployed or weighted accumulators capable of giving different pressuresmay be used with like effect. W'ith said tanks or their equivalent(which I shall include under the term tanks hereinafter) I combine pumpsG and H of any suitable character, reciprocating pumps being shown, thepump II being an ordinary high-pressure pump and G being an ordinarycompound or double-expansion pump with a high-pressure cylinder 9 and alow-pressure cylinder 10, and between pumps G H is receiver 11, whichreceives the exhaust from the pipe 1a of the pump II, which pump derivesits water-supply from the tank 3*. From the steam-receiver 11 a pipe 82passes to the high-pressure cylinder 9, and in the pipe 82 is a valve38, which is controlled by any suitable form of governor 18, connectedwith the tank 82 in such manner that the pump G will be put in operationwhenever the pressure in the tank 82 is below normal, and the supply ofsteam will be cut oil? to the pump G whenever the pressure rises abovenormal. The pump H also communicates through a pipe 83 with the tank 81,which has a governor 17, like the governor 18, connected to control avalve 37 in the steam-supply pipe 84, which communicates with agenerator capable of supplying steam at the same pressure as the maximumpower desired-say, for instance, one hundred and sixty pounds. Thegenerator also communicates through pipe 85 with the receiver 1.1, andthe said pipe 85 is provided with a re duction-valve 13, which willprevent the main steam-supply being transmitted to the receiver 11 at agreater pressure than may be predeterminedsay, for instance, seventypounds-and an escape-valve 12 permits the steam to escape from thereceiver 11 should it exceed the said pressure of seventy pounds.

It will of course be understood that the pressure in the tanks isproportioned to the required service and that the pumps and engines areof proper relative size. For instance, of pump G, I assume that themultiple engine has a high-pressure cylinder fourteen inches in diameterand a low pressure cylinder twenty inches in diameter with awater-cylinder fifteen inches in diameter and twelveinch stroke andreceiving its suction-water from tank 3 through a branch pipe 82 anddelivering into the tank 82 through a pipe 87. The pump H will in suchcase have a steamcylinder of twenty inches diameter, a waterter-cylindertwelve by fifteen inches receiving steam at one hundred and sixty poundspressure and exhausting into the receiver 11 against seventy pounds backpressure. Ordinarily it receives its suction-water from tank 82 througha pipe 85, communicating with the pipe 86; but the piping should be ofsuch a character that each pump in case of emergency may be used to pumpfrom tank 3 into tank 81 or from tank 82 into tank 81 or from tank 3into tank 82. Assuming that each tank 81 82 is half-filled With waterand at normal pressure, if Water is withdrawn from the tank 82 thegovernor 18 Will open the valve 38 and the pump G will be put intooperation, and water will be pumped into the tank 82 through a pipe 87.In like manner when the pressure descends in tank 81 in consequence ofwater being withdrawn therefrom the governor 17 will open the valve 37The pump will be put into operation and Will withdraw water from tank 82and pump it into the tank 81, and of course the withdrawal of water fromtank 82 will cause the governor 18 to put the pump G into operation tosupply the deficiency in the tank 82. It will thus be seen that thetanks and the water ends of the pumps are so arranged as to be inseries, so that the pressure side of one pump forms the suction of thenext.

It will be seen that the reduction of pressure in the high-pressure tankand the corresponding operation of the pump H cause the water and thepressure in the low-pressure tank to be lowered and put in operation thepump G, which supplies the said low-pressure tank from a separate tank3, and I am therefore enabled, in consequence of this action, to makeuse of a triple or multiple expansion of the steam, employing onlyordinary commercial pumps. Thus it will be seen that the exhaust frompump II passes to the receiver 1]. with one reduction of steam-pressure,which operates in the high-pressure cylinder 9 of the pump G, and fromthe latter it passes to the low-pressure cylinder 10 with a secondreduction of pressure, and thence to the atmosphere, so that I use thesteam in the apparatus under three different pressures, while making useof a direct-pressure pump and a compound pump, such as can be purchasedupon the market. It will also be seen that the effective pressure inpump II, in order to IIO maintain one hundred and siXty pounds in tank81, is much less than would be necessary to maintain this pressure bymeans of a pump communicating with and receiving its supply from anordinary non-pressure tank. This results from the fact that the pump Hreceived its water at a pressure of one hundred pounds from tank 82, sothat the available steam-pressure for operating the pump H will be aboutthirty pounds, where otherwise it would have to be one hundred pounds.

When accumulators are used, they perform the same office as the tanksand have devices for controlling the respective pumps according to thepressures exerted by the accumulators, and I therefore include under theterm pressure-tank an accumulator or equivalent pressure-storingapparatus; and while in the connection above described great advantagesare secured when pumps operating under steam-pressure are used, so as tosesure the advantages of the multiple expansion of the steam, yet insome in stances pumps driven by hydraulic, pneumatic, electric, or gasmotors may be used with automatic switch devices and other requisitegear; and I can secure the same advantages from the result of the pumpsconnected with the tanks under different pressures and operated bygovernors, as set forth above in connection with hydraulic pumpingapparatus.

I do not here claim the main-valve device and its connections forregulating the admission of different fluids, as this is the subject ofa separate application, Serial No. 562,673, filed September 16, 1895.

Without limiting myself to the precise construction and arrangement ofparts shown, I claim as my invention- 1. The combination of high and lowpressure water-tanks, engine and discharge tank, high and low pressurepumps G and H and connections between the said tanks and pumps arrangedto permit either pump to be put into connection to receive water fromeither the discharge or low pressure tank and to discharge water eitherinto the high or low pressure tank, substantially as described.

2. The combination in an elevator apparatus of a main engine havingmultiple cylinders and pistons and a main valve, pipes communicatingwith different sources of power and leading to different ports of themain valve, a motor for the main valve, and a pilot-valve controllingsaid motor and connected to be operated from the cage to open themain-valve port communicating with the lowest source of power, and meansfor automatically opening the other of said ports as the load to belifted increases, substantially as set forth.

The combination in an elevator apparatus, of two tanks containing motorfluid at different pressures, two independently-operating pumps forsupplying said tanks, the pumps being in series with themselves and thetanks, one pump taking its water from the low-pressure tank anddelivering it to the high-pressure tank, and one pump being operated bythe exhaust-steam from the other, and valves, and governors eachcontrolled by the pressure in one of the tanks to control the flow ofsteam to one of the pumps, substantially as described.

4. The combination of two pressure-tanks and independently operatingpumps, the pumps being in series with themselves and the tanks and onepump having its deliverypipe communicating with the high-pressure tankand its receiving-pipe communicating with the low-pressure tank, and theother pump discharging into the low-pressure tank,

and a hydraulic-power apparatus provided with valves controlling theflow from the different tanks, substantially as set forth.

5. The combination with a hydraulic-power apparatus and control-valvesand separate tanks, containing water under different pres: sures, of apump operating under high pressure communicating with one of the tanks,a second independent pump operating under low pressure with itsdischarge-pipe communicating with-the other tank and the latter alsocommunicating with the receiving-pipe of the high-pressure pump,substantially as described.

6. The combination of a hydraulic-power apparatus and control valves andtanks, one tank communicating with a pump operating under high pressure,the other communicating with the receiving-pipe of said pump and withthe discharge-pipe of another independent pump operating under lowpressure, and automatic governors for starting and stopping the pumpsaccording to the pressure in the tanks, substantially as set forth.

7. The combination with ahydraulic-power apparatus and its valves, oftanks for containing motor fluid under different pressures and separateindependently-operating pumps arranged in series with themselves and thetanks for supplying said tanks, the high-pressure pump receiving itsfluid from the lowpressure tank, a source of steam-supply communicatin gwith the high-pressure pump, and a reducing-valve in a'steam-pipesupplying the low-pressure pump, substantially as set forth.

8. The combination of a hydraulic apparatus having two or morecylinders, tanks containing motor fluid at different pressures, andmeans for automatically maintaining said pressures, and automatic valvedevices whereby the high or low pressure is admitted according to theload to be lifted, substantially as set forth.

9. The combination in a hydraulic-power apparatus, of tanks, high andlow pressure pumps supplying said tanks, one pump being acompound-engine pump and the highpressure cylinder thereof receivingsteam from the exhaust of the other pump, an ele- IIO Vator cylinder andpiston, and means for antomatically directly opening communicationbetween the high-pressure tank and the cylinder when the load in thecage is excessive, substantially as set forth.

10. The combination in a hydraulic-power apparatus, of tanks, high andlow pressure pumps supplying said tanks, the high-pressure pump drawingWater from the lo\v-pressure tank, one pump being a compound-engine pumpand the high-pressure cylinder thereof receiving steam from the exhaustof the other pump, substantially as described.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as RUDOLPH C. SMITH.

\Vitnesses:

HENRY L. BRANT, H. W. BARKLEY.

